“Aaaaand, I’m all finished!” Alex announced proudly. Milan looked down at it, turning her finger to and fro.
“Alex, this is lovely! I wasn’t sure how’d I feel about it, but it is just gorgeous!”
Julian rushed over to examine it for himself. He had to nod in agreement.
“You did that perfectly, Alex… That is really nice.” Julian gently lifted her hand, studying it even closer, like a fine craftsman.
“Thank you. Glad you like it. Yours looks good too, Julian. Cedrick did a good job.”
“Yeah, he did.” Julian scratched his head. “I guess we better get going.”
“Yeah, I’m going to clean my equipment and go on over to the church, too. Angela called and said everything is fine.”
Milan nodded. “She’s been helping the wedding coordinator and sending me text messages this entire time with progress reports. Angela is so sweet.”
“Yeah.” Julian huffed. “Until you have to work with her!” He teased as Alex moved about, hurrying to break free.
Julian went around the place, making sure things were just so as his fiancé disappeared into the restroom. Soon, Alex was gone too, and it was just him standing there, in the stillness of the early morning in the salon. He looked around, spirits creeping within him, taking him over. He’d be leaving on his honeymoon to Cancun soon. He couldn’t recall the last time he’d been on a vacation, let alone with someone he was madly in love with. He ran his hand down his face, turned off the music and waited for Milan to return to him.
After a few moments, he heard the faucet water turn off, and she entered the main lobby, where he waited for her by the door.
“Are you ready, baby?”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and seasoned his lips with a seductive kiss. Enveloping his arms around her body, he pulled her in close. After a few moments, they broke free from one another. He drew a tiny yellow rose out of his jacket pocket and wedged it between her curlers, causing her to burst out laughing. She reached atop her head and patted it, a tender grin creased her face.
“That’s so sweet!”
He kissed her cheek, opened the front door and watched her saunter away to his freshly cleaned and shiny, parked car in front of the shop, then turned to lock up. ‘Soul Inscriptions’ was officially closed for the day. He could feel his own heartbeat increase as he walked away and joined her. Taking a deep breath, he started the car, took her hand in his and held it tight as he pulled away from the curb to merge with the sleepy traffic. As he drove, he could hear the church bells in the near distance as the clock struck ten in the morning. Soon, he’d be standing at the altar with her, making promises that he planned to keep. He was on his way, and he couldn’t get there fast enough for the woman that stole his soul, left indelible ink across his very heart. She was destined to be his forevermore. Oh yes, he was going to that big church alright. He was going to make the woman of his dreams, the wife of his reality.
….For they were one and the same…
~***~
We’ve got yellowed yesterday, but yesteryear hurt.
We’ve got toiled inscriptions on our souls, and the piercing pain lingers—
We’ve got soothing love written all over our writhing bodies and muddled minds.
We’ve got inky love swirling around our fingers.
We’ve got picturesque healing for today,
So that we can partake in an even more glorious tomorrow—
The scabby wounds of adoration lost still remain.
Leaving us at times drowning in blue-black sorrow.
Steaming tea and golden roses
Was only a small part of your persona revival—
Haunting opera music surrounds your spirit.
You’re a fighter, sleeping on a bed of delayed tears, called survival.
The dead brought us together,
But I lived through you, and you breathed through me—
We were travelling a road of loves lost,
Yes, we were brought together via tragedy.
I’ve been waiting, expecting you, my Love,
And I knew I’d meet my exquisite bride soon—
Our sacrifice of rich ink and fresh blood intermingled
For you shined down on me, Milan…
You are my coveted
tattooed moon…
~THE END~
Other works by Tiana Laveen
"Cross Climax I"
"Cross Climax II"
"The Slave Master's Son"
"The Naughty Sins of a Saint"
"I Want Candy"
"When Saint Goes Marching In"
"Swirled Satin Sheets I"
"In My Sister's Shadow"
"Swirled Satin Sheets II"
"Saved and SAINTified"
"Addicted In Cold Blood"
"Forgive Me Father For I Have Loved"
"Saint's Sacrament - Sins of the Father"
"The Tale of the Blood Diamond"
"The Unearthing of Blackstone."
~Author Biography~
Tiana Laveen was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and resides in the Midwest with her husband, two children, and twisted imagination. She enjoys a fulfilling and enriching life that includes writing books, drawing, painting, listening to music, cooking, and spending time with loved ones.
Tiana Laveen is a uniquely creative and innovative author whose romance fiction is geared towards those who not only want to temporarily escape from the daily routines of life, but also delve into social taboo as it pertains to interracial relationships. Tiana creates a painting with words as she guides her reader into the lives of each and every main character.
If you wish to communicate with Tiana Laveen, please contact her at www.facebook.com/tianalaveen.
Her books can be found on Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble and CreateSpace in e-Book (kindle, nook, Sony reader etc.) as well as paperback.
www.tianalaveen.com
Vasily’s Revenge
Part One
The Medlov Men Short Story Series
Latrivia S. Nelson
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission by the author.
Vasily’s Revenge
Copyright © 2014, Latrivia S. Nelson
Editor: Elaine Whitaker
Cover Artist: Katherine McGrady
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to eStore and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
“You don’t ever appreciate something until someone takes it away.” Dmitry Medlov
Prologue
Manhattan, NYC
Ten Years Ago
Even from downstairs in the Upper East Side three-story, luxury brownstone, Vasily could hear Lilly and his boss Leo arguing. The sound of raised voices and heavy objects hitting the wall and breaking were like nails on a chalkboard for him, reminding him of his less-than-fortunate childhood and the grizzly scenes that had unfolded at his father’s hand.
After so many years of being around constant and abhorrent violence from a toddler to a grown man, he knew trouble brewing when he heard it. He also knew when a man was headed toward a vehement eruption, and based upon the growl in his boss’s voice and aggressive words coming from his mouth, Lilly would be in trouble soon, if they both didn’t calm down.
Lilly w
as a voluptuous woman, the kind who looked like she was born to be a centerfold pinup. With a large, double-D bosom, a freakishly small waist and wide sculpted hips, she had captured everyone’s attention in the house, including Vasily’s but he never let on about it.
There was something charming about her raspy, seductive voice and smooth coco skin, the way her lips curved into a heart and her almond-shaped, brown eyes always showed all of her emotions. Her hair was like soft black feathers and the dimples in the sides of both of her high-cheeks seem to explode every time that she smiled at him.
And Lilly smiled often, despite his attempt to be as dull and quiet as possible around her.
In fact, he often avoided her just so that he wouldn’t have to take in her intoxicating scent or try to hide the primitive reaction she caused in him.
Fresh out of hair school and going nowhere fast, she had fallen into Leo’s arms at an upscale night club in Manhattan where she was a waitress. His romance of her was quick and to the point. He wanted her. So, he took her.
In exchange, she got this…
A lesson in the fact that all that glitters is not gold.
Looking up at the crown molding ceiling of the parlor, Vasily shook his head at the vibrations coming from above.
They were not calming down. If anything, they were ramping it up.
Another vase slammed against the wall upstairs, this time knocking down a painting with it. The clanging of the objects were only magnified by the constant name calling, not by her but by him. Leo berated her loudly, using his tongue instead of his hand for the moment to tear her down layer by layer.
There was only so much of this that Vasily could take, but the men sitting around the table with him seemed to be able to ignore it as they cleaned their guns, loaded their magazines and watched television like nothing was going on.
Some of them even ate their dinner and had sidebar conversations, never flinching as a woman just up the stairs screamed to the top of her lungs. To them, such a thing was typical, if not expected. Many of them had come from homes just like his, but had no better ideas of women than the men who had beat them and their mothers.
Vasily, on the other hand, had sworn to never hit a woman and never to allow one to be hit in his presence. Sure, there were evil women, no different from evil men, in the world. But if he had to kill one, he did just that - respectfully with a bullet.
Taking a deep breath, he set down his Uzi on the round wooden table carefully and stood up, pushing his chair a few feet away in frustration.
Most of the men sitting around the table did not paid attention to him. They could not possibly fathom that he was actually about to do something as stupid as intervene between their boss and his girl. Besides, they were supposed to be getting ready for a meeting tonight where money and microchips would be exchanged at an undisclosed location, not dealing in things domestic.
“Don’t do it,” Yakov warned his friend in a thick Russian accent. He sat beside him at the table, watching Vasily’s demeanor change with each and every scream. “It’s not worth it.” He looked up at Vasily with old wisdom in his young features and shook his head, begging him to mind his own business.
Yakov had been with Leo longer than Vasily and knew his boss’s hellish temper and his history with women. What was going on upstairs was nothing new for the house. There had been many women before Lilly and would probably be many after her.
A hiss escaped him in anger. “I can’t just sit down here and listen to this,” Vasily said, clenching his square jaw. He looked up at the ceiling again impatiently. “He could be hurting her this time. Every argument gets one step closer.”
“They are just arguing. No big deal. Tomorrow they’ll be better,” Yakov promised. “Besides, she’s not your girlfriend. But he is your boss. Remember that.” He pointed at him to add levity to the situation. “Don’t do anything stupid.”
Lilly yelled again, this time louder. The door to their bedroom flung open. “Fuck you, Leo!” she screamed. “I am so sick of dealing with your shit! You are not my father!”
“Get your black ass back here,” Leo ordered in a thick Russian accent, bolting out of the door after her with his black Armani shirt open to show his sinewy muscles and a tattooed chest.
Grabbing her by her slender arm, he swung her around and slapped her across the face all in one motion.
Instantly, she fell to the carpeted floor, grabbing her face and crying. She was stunned that he had actually hit her this time. With wide eyes of disbelief, she looked up at him deathly afraid.
The hit echoed as the men went silent in the room below.
His heart strained. “That’s it,” Vasily said, voice going sharp as he headed through the doorway.
“Vasily, no!”
Yakov was immediately torn. Vasily was his best friend and like a brother to him, but Leo was his boss and he was his second-in-charge. He knew that Vasily wasn’t wrong for wanting the fighting to stop. Lilly, after all, was a good and decent girl, but it was not their place to save her from a situation that she had put herself in.
Yakov stood up to go after Vasily, but gave him a moderate and intentional start. This was going to happen at one point or another. It might as well happen while he could help Vasily. He knew, while never saying anything, that Vasily had a thing for Lilly, but he also knew that his friend had never made one advance toward her. Vasily wasn’t like that. He was more honorable than any other man that he knew in the Vory v Zakone. And it would be his honor that would be his ultimate downfall.
“What do you want us to do?” one of the other men asked, not really alarmed by Vasily’s outburst.
Yakov motioned for the men to stay seated. “I’ve got this,” he said, refusing to put his friend into danger without cause.
Everyone sitting at the table was the shoot now, ask questions later type. Even if they had to kill Vasily, they wouldn’t care. He was one of them, but not really. He was newest to their small crew and only close to Yakov.
Headed up the elaborate alabaster wood staircase toward Lily’s cries, Vasily saw Leo look over the banister at him. He rushed as fast as he could, moving up the stairs two or three at a time, seeing red, determined to make the man stop his shouting and hitting.
As Vasily arrived on the third floor, heaving furious breaths, Leo scowled at him. His penetrating gray eyes were like a wolf locked on his prey. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” he asked in a deep baritone, still standing over Lily like he was ready to attack again.
Vasily looked down at the woman, wearing only a torn pink satin slip, lip bleeding and long black hair covering her bruised face. Unable to help himself, he reached out for her. All he wanted to do was protect her and keep safe, only he didn’t know why. “Get up,” he said to her with both authority and concern.
Leo snorted in response. “Are you serious?” He frowned, looking around like someone was playing a practical joke on him. “What is this?”
“She’s had enough,” Vasily snarled. “I’m not disillusioned by what kind of men we are, but we don’t beat women.”
Leo’s mouth dropped open when he realized that Vasily was serious. “I do whatever the fuck I want to do,” Leo reminded, hitting his chest like a caveman. He stood between Vasily and Lily, purposefully guarding his territory.
Leo was a big man, not easily pushed around or intimidated. Nearly as wide as Vasily, he boasted a thick, muscular chest and bulging arms and bottomed out with legs as large as tree trunks that were covered in tailored black slacks and leather dress shoes. His low black crew cut outlined his chiseled features - gray eyes, wide-lips, tanned skin, thick black brows and a splash of freckles across his face. He was menacingly handsome and overtly dangerous.
Leo gestured at the quivering woman while keeping his eyes on Vasily. “You’re fucking her, aren’t’ you?” He wiped his nose and planted his feet ready for a fight.
Vasily stepped closer. “No.” His tone was bitter and unapologetic. “If I were,
I would not have let you lay the first hand on her.”
Lily pushed to her feet, forgetting the pain in her face for a second. She wiped her bloody mouth. “Leo, don’t. Let’s just go back inside and talk this out. There is no need to get anyone else involved.” Her voice nearly failed her. She didn’t want anything to happen to Vasily because of her. She liked him, more than he knew.
Leo laughed. “Oh, this is rich. You and my fucking foot boy? Really?” He looked between the both of them and put his hand on his hip in contemplation.
“Vasily has never touched me,” Lilly answered.
“I just don’t like men beating women,” Vasily said, eyes narrowing. “I don’t care who you are. I’m not going to let you put your hands on her again.”
“Is that a fact?” Leo’s fangs began to show. He was amused somewhat by the ridiculous attempt.
Yakov came up the stairs behind them, assessing the situation quietly. He looked over at Leo with faux-confusion. “What’s going on?” he asked, although he already knew.
“Are you fucking her too?” Leo asked Yakov.
“No, boss.” The look on Yakov’s face, a mix of surprise and denial, made Leo turn his attention back to the six-foot-four wall of muscle that was Vasily.
“Let me explain something to you,” Leo said walking over to Lilly and grabbing her up by her neck. “This is my property.” He pointed at Vasily. “You are my property, and if I choose to beat her or you then it’s my fucking business. Until you are boss, you don’t have a thing to say about it. Do I make myself clear?”
Vasily could feel the heat growing under his collar. “Let go of her,” he demanded. “I won’t say it again.”
Lilly’s brown eyes were filled with shame and fear. “Stop, Leo, please!” she begged.
Scandalous Heroes Box Set Page 77
